Irridescence can bring shine to punters' faces

While Ascot continues to attract criticism over its controversial new grandstand, the £10m redevelopment work which will be officially unveiled at Newmarket's July course today has already been given the thumbs-up. "It has been a huge success and well received at the four fixtures we have had this year," said Michael Prosser, the clerk of the course and Newmarket's director of racing yesterday.

"Modernisation was needed," he continued. "But what we have done has in no way altered the special atmosphere or ambience of the July course. That was the hardest bit, but now racegoers will find it easier to get from A to B after we increased our acreage by going 20 metres into the National Stud land."

With prizemoney up and "tweaks" made to the conditions of certain races, Prosser has been rewarded with a top-class programme for day one of the Ritz Club July Festival. He expects the meeting to start on "good, fast ground" after a few welcome dry days at Newmarket.

"We had five inches of rain in June but the track is drying out well," said Prosser. "There has been no need to do any watering and the far side track which we use this week has not been raced on since last August. The going stick reading is the same for both sides of the track, so I don't anticipate any advantage in the draw."

The first two races on today's card, with 19 and 20 runners respectively, will tell if there is any draw bias. Last year, the far side (low numbers) were favoured in the six-furlongs totesport.com Heritage Handicap, but that was on fast ground after watering had taken place.

The draw won't matter in the day's feature race, the Falmouth Stakes, run over a mile, but tactics will. With no obvious front-runner in the field, this could be advantage South Africa in the shape of the six-year-old mare, Irridescence (3.10), who has shown she can win from the front. Her trainer Mike de Kock, who has firmly established his name on the international stage with notable victories at the Dubai Carnival, has based a few horses with Geoff Wragg at Newmarket for an assault on some top summer prizes. The three-year-old Drayton belied his 100-1 odds by finishing fifth in the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot.

Irridescence has caught the attention of Newmarket work-watchers, including Prosser. "She has worked twice on the July course with Asiatic Boy and she looks very well," he said. Asiatic Boy is no ordinary yardstick. Unbeaten in four starts at the Dubai Carnival, he won the UAE Derby by a street and has the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on his agenda.

Irridescence had two outings in Dubai on the back of a rushed preparation after she had rejoined de Kock following a spell with John Hammond in France. Not many fillies finished ahead of Ouija Board in recent years, but Irridescence managed it when she won the Queen Elizabeth II Cup in Hong Kong last year. She may just find this trip on the sharp side, but expect to see jockey Weichong Marwing make plenty of use of her.

Frankie Dettori who, along with Lester Piggott, will officially open the revamped course at midday, needs a good week after the disappointment of the Eclipse Stakes. He can win the Cherry Hinton Stakes on Francesca D'Gorgio (2.35), who was a close-up fourth behind Elletelle at Royal Ascot. Now 3lb better off with the winner and fitted with a first-time visor, she is fancied to follow up stablemate Sander Camillo's win here last year.

Top bumper filly Turbo Linn is a fascinating runner in the Lancashire Oaks, which has been rescheduled from waterlogged Haydock. But, after a pipe-opener over a mile at Pontefract, Mont Etoile (3.45) looks the one to beat.